MLB Player News

Blue Jays infielder Ryan Goins will start at shortstop Tuesday for the injured Jose Reyes, the team announced. Goins fills in for Reyes, who was placed on the 15-day DL Monday with a rib injury. Goins is hitting .238 in 21 at-bats this season.

Outfielder Dalton Pompey is out of the lineup, with Danny Valencia taking over in left field and Kevin Pillar playing center. 

Pompey told Sportsnet.ca he suffered a bit of whiplash making a catch Monday at Boston.

Despite struggling to open the season, the Indians want to be patient with shortstop Jose Ramirez, reports MLB.com.

"I would encourage [fans] to take a look at Jose Ramirez's body of work," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said, per MLB.com. "Not only what he did last year at the Major League level, but the way he played and performed throughout our development system, because he's a guy that's produced at each level and played very well at each stop he's been at -- including the Major Leagues."

Ramirez is hitting .196 with one home run in 51 at-bats this season and the team has prospect Francisco Lindor waiting in the minor leagues.

"Admittedly, he's had a rough start to the season -- offensively, especially -- but he's the same guy that came up last year, struggled initially and then figured things out the second time and performed pretty well and was a big part of our team's success in the second half," Antonetti said. 

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria followed up Saturday's 4-for-4 day with a 3-for-3 performance on Sunday. Longoria has now hit in five straight games and lifted his average to .306.

Rays third baseman Evan Longoria went 4 for 4 in Saturday's 4-2 win over Toronto. 

Longoria hit his seventh double of the year and drove in his fourth run, while lifting his average to .271. Longoria has hit 8 for 16 in his four-game hitting streak. 

Catcher Kurt Suzuki, DH Kennys Vargas and right fielder Torii Hunter were not included in the Twins' Sunday lineup. 

Suzuki was replaced by Chris Herrmann, who started his fourth game at catcher, batting eighth.

Oswaldo Arcia moved over from left to replace Hunter. Eduardo Escobar picked up his fourth start of the year in left, batting sixth.  

Eduardo Nunez played Dh for the first time this year, batting fifth. 

Indians infielder Mike Aviles is in the starting lineup Sunday, batting second and playing shortstop in his team's matchup with the Tigers.

Aviles is seeing just his second start of the season at shortstop, as most of his work has come in the oufield. He'll take the place of Jose Ramirez, who had started 10 straight games coming into Sunday.

The Indians have also made a change at the top of the lineup, moving second baseman Jason Kipnis to the leadoff spot. Kipnis and Aviles batted 1-2 in the team's last start against a southpaw, and lefty Kyle Lobstein is on the mound of the Tigers Sunday. Center fielder and typical leadoff man Michael Bourn will bat ninth.

The Indians are road favorites (-115) in Detroit Sunday.

Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar went 1 for 5 at the plate in Minnesota's 8-5 win over the Mariners Saturday.

Escobar did his only damage in the fourth inning when he ripped a 3-2 pitch off James Paxton over the left center field wall for a solo home run, his first of the season. Escobar, who also struck out twice, boosted his average to .171 in 35 at-bats this season.

Athletics manager Bob Melvin likes what he's got in prospect Max Muncy, who played in his first game after being called up Saturday. Melvin expects to primarily use Muncy at third base with his infield battling a multitude of injuries, reports MLB.com.

"He can play a little first, he can play a little third, and with [Eric Sogard] being able to play all the positions, it's probably going to be mostly at third," said Melvin. "He's a grinder. He made an impression right away. You know he can hit, and he's coming in here swinging the bat well. We've always felt he was quite the hitter.

"Moved him over to third to make him a little bit more versatile, especially with [Matt] Olson in the system. We like what we saw this spring."

Muncy went 1 for 4 in the game with a single and a strikeout.

As cold as Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe was to start the season, that's how hot he's been since.

Plouffe was batting a mere .133 with one RBI through nine games. He is 10-for-23 in six games since with two doubles, one homer, two RBI and an on-base percentage of .480. How does he explain that? Discipline at the plate.

"I think that's a product of laying off borderline pitches and getting myself into better counts," he told MLB.com. "If the pitcher sees you swinging at those borderline pitches, he's just going to continue to throw those and you're not going to have great at-bats. So if you're able to shrink the zone down, that helps. And when I'm going well, that's what I do."

Plouffe led the Twins with 80 RBI last year.

The Twins will be without three regulars in the starting lineup on Saturday. 

Shortstop Danny Santana, left fielder Oswaldo Arcia and center fielder Jordan Schafer are all out of the lineup. 

Eduardo Escobar will start his third game of the year at shortstop, batting eighth in the lineup. 

Eduardo Nunez gets his second start of the year in left, batting sixth. Shane Robinson starts for the sixth time in center, batting ninth.